


this extraordinary being

by vermellion



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Angst, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Parental Riza Hawkeye, Parental Roy Mustang, Post-Canon, you know i keep that mf tag ON ME
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:20:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26400070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vermellion/pseuds/vermellion
Summary: It's been two years since the promised day. Ed is about to leave to travel, and everything is going great. Right?-Or: Ed is the first person to ever lose their Gate. This can have consequences.
Relationships: Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric, Edward Elric & Riza Hawkeye, Edward Elric & Roy Mustang
Comments: 135
Kudos: 345





	1. firmament

**Author's Note:**

> beta read by SiryyGray ! check out their stuff!

It was shaping up to be a good day.

Edward had woken up early, the weather was nice, his train hadn’t been delayed, and his conversation with Winry had actually gone pretty well. Until the part where he had another one of those dizzy spells.

The dizzy spells were weird. They had started shortly after the Promised Day, and in the two years since then, they had become much more frequent. The way they made him feel was scarily similar to what it felt like when he was in front of the Gate. A very, very watered-down version, but still. Usually, he just felt his vision white out a bit.

They weren’t frequent enough for them to mean anything, though. They hardly even bothered him. Most of the time.

Which is why he played it off when Winry asked about it. Made a joke about iron deficiency while smacking his automail leg. It seemed to dissuade her from worrying, at least for the moment.

And now he was here, on a train to East City. Resembool was great and all, but he had to go to East City in order to get literally anywhere else because of small amount of trains that run through there. Although Ed wanted to pass through before he went out west anyways, so it wasn’t really an inconvenience this time. There was someone in East City who’s day he had to ruin.

Him and Al had decided to go off traveling. Al had already left a few days ago to go east because he had a few more places he wanted to go to. The plan was for him to drop by Ishval for a few days, then cross the desert part way to what was left of Xerxes. He was going to explore there by himself before meeting up with some others to travel the desert to Xing. Al had mentioned something about it being unfair that Ed had already been to see it.

Ed had been snickering to himself about all the terrible things he was going to do when he got hit with  _ another  _ dizzy spell, and wow, this time he wasn’t even doing anything. He felt his vision go white temporarily and thought that he had seen Truth’s outline in the white space currently taking up his vision.

Now, Ed was not a stranger to this. Most nights he would have reoccurring dreams where he’s back where his Gate was. However, to think of that while awake? No thank you. As much as he doesn’t want to admit it, him seeing Truth randomly was starting to freak him out a bit. It wasn’t often that it happened, only when he got especially lightheaded. Maybe he  _ should  _ ask Al about this the next time they talk. It’s not like there’s a long list of people who would even know what he’s talking about.

But anyways. No use thinking about that right now. The train was about to arrive, and Ed had someone to meet.

Ed saw him as soon as he got off the train. Who smokes inside a train station?

Havoc also immediately saw Ed and began walking towards him. They were going to go out for lunch and ‘catch up’ as Havoc put it, which really means ‘make fun of Mustang’. And maybe plot out some ways to ruin his day. Maybe.

Ed began to feel himself get lightheaded _again_ as he started walking with Havoc, and momentarily saw Truth’s outline. He staggered a bit in his step but managed to catch himself before he fell over or did anything else that would embarrass himself. That… that wasn’t good. He had been putting off mentioning his little dizzy spells to anyone else over the past while. He was sure they had something to do with him going through the Gate, but he didn’t know _what_.

Okay. Maybe they had been happening for a bit longer than ‘a little while,’ but nobody needed to know that. Surely someone else who had seen the Gate would know what he was talking about? In the back of his mind, there was a small part of him worried that this had to do with him losing his Gate. It's not like anyone else had ever given up their Gate before. And the fact that these didn’t even start until his was already gone...

Yeah, he should probably ask Al about this the next time they talked.

“Woah there chief, you good?” Havoc flashed him a smile. It was supposed to sound concerned, but instead it seemed to be more mocking than anything.

“Yeah, just tripped on the step. Lets go,” he said in cheery way that probably came off as forced. There’s nothing that could stop Ed from hearing about the latest Mustang scandals.

Lunch with Havoc was always fun. There was a reason why Ed always hung out with him at least once when passing through East City. It’s not like he doesn’t always at least say hi to the others though.

The gossip about Mustang had been good, and there was certainly blackmail material, but it seemed like nothing exceptional had been going on. No news worthy scandals, unfortunately.

“Did you hear he wrote a rap song about himself?”

“You’re kidding. What, is it some cocky tune about how great he is?”

“Ask him yourself when we get to the office. You’re still planning on dropping in, yeah?”

Of course he was. The next train to central doesn’t leave until tomorrow, which gives Ed enough time to participate in his favourite activity: pissing off Mustang. 

Obviously he’ll catch up with everyone else while he’s there, but he hasn’t seen Mustang in months and he’s honestly missed wreaking his day.

They wrapped up their lunch and began heading over to the office.

As they approached the door, Havoc had begun looking nervous. Ed had assumed it was because he took a much longer lunch break than he should have, and would soon be facing Riza’s wrath.

Ed took this as an opportunity to open the door ahead of Havoc. Might as well make a big entrance, right?

Edward slammed the door open, much like he used to do when he was still employed here. Nobody had even spared him a glance as he purposefully made as much noise as he could.

The room was exactly as he had remembered it being all those years ago. Even all of the desks were in the same spots, and it looked as if there was still a dent in the wall from his previous attempts of swinging the door off of its hinges.

“See, he didn’t end up damaging the door, so I win, right?”

“No, no, he hasn’t talked to the General yet, so it doesn’t count.”

Ed could hear Falman and Breda whisper a few more comments to each other. Fuery had begun staring at his desk, appearing to be the only one who cared if they were being listened to. Were they…  _ betting  _ on whether he would cause property damage? Ed didn’t know if he should be offended or amused. Or maybe both?

Havoc had clapped him on the shoulder before returning to his desk, clearly relieved that Riza hadn’t been in the room when he got back from his ‘extended’ lunch break. They both knew that there was no way he had gotten away with it, however.

“I’m assuming the Colonel is in his office?” Ed asked to no one in particular.

“It’s General now, but yes. He’s been expecting you.” Falman had glanced over at Mustangs door, still avoiding Ed’s eyes. Fine, if they want him to cause some problems, who is he to refuse?

Ed stalked right up to Mustang's door and proceeded to plant his left foot right through it. Satisfied with the gaping hole he had created, he removed his foot and walked in.

“Please stop causing property damage every time you come here.” Mustang looked more disappointed than upset.

“Why? Does it not remind you of the good old days?”

“I don’t want to be reminded of all the trouble you used to cause me, Fullmetal. I could charge you for damaging military property.” Roy hadn’t looked up from his papers as he spoke.

“Okay, first of all, you legally can’t call me that anymore. And secondly, can’t you get in trouble for letting a civilian into a military office?”

“If you’re going to kick down my door with a metal foot, I’m going to call you Fullmetal.”

The somewhat teasing attitude in the air had disappeared as soon as Riza had coughed, reminding the two that there was an audience to their bickering.

“Hello Edward, how have you been?”

He knew she was just being nice, but it still felt like she was trying to break up his current squabble with Mustang. “Oh you know, travelling and stuff. I’ll be stuck in East City for a few days ‘cause of a train layover though.”

“A layover? Aren’t those less than 24 hours?” Falman had chimed in. Edward glared over his shoulder at the spectators in the other room and turned to shut the door behind him.

“Semantics. Anyways, since I was gonna be stuck here for a few days, I thought I would drop in. You know. Catch up a bit.” Riza was probably already aware he had been planning to mess with Mustang somehow, but she didn’t say anything.

“It’s nice to see you again. How have things been with Winry and Alphonse?”

Edward and Riza continued to talk and catch up, while Ed purposefully excluded Mustang from the conversation. He seemed to get a bit uncomfortable every time Ed referred to Riza by her first name, which was the intended effect. Ever since he officially left the military, she wouldn’t let him call her anything else, and apparently Mustang was not at that point yet. So, as Ed does, he made sure to stick it in his face.

Apparently Riza had decided that that was enough bullying Mustang for the day. With a brief goodbye, she left the room to let them catch up with each other, making a point to close the door behind her on her way out.

Mustang was distracted by watching Riza leave, which gave Ed the perfect opportunity to –

“I know you want to stick gum to my desk, Fullmetal. Don’t even try it.”

“What? Me? I would never.” Ed was trying to look innocent, but they both knew it was a ruse.

“You’ve already caused me enough grief for the day, or did you already forget about planting your foot through my door?”

They continued on for a bit, going back and forth. There was no anger behind either of them.

Eventually they lost amusement of their bickering. There were a few comments made about how Mustang could just fix the door himself with alchemy, and the conversation lost its edge after that. They had begun to catch up, like one might do with an old friend.

Somehow the conversation had made its way to the restoration of Ishval. Apparently Doctor Marcoh had travelled there to make reparations with his past, and was trying to help out as best as he could. Ed briefly wondered if Al would run into Marcoh on his way through Ishval.

With that, the discussion had found its way back to alchemy. Ed was pretty sure Roy had been dancing around the topic. Probably trying to be nice about the fact that Ed couldn’t use alchemy anymore, though it seemed as if he wasn’t doing it intentionally.

Edward had gotten tired of his reluctance to delve into the subject, and flat out told Roy to hurry up and fix the door before someone noticed and they really got in trouble. Mustang stood up and began walking towards the door. With a resounding clap, he transmuted it almost to the way it used to be, spare a few chips of paint and maybe a few splinters of wood.

Ed had suddenly thought to ask Mustang about the Gate. He had seen it too, right? Maybe he also sometimes felt like he was back there –

Ed must have had a pout on his face, because suddenly Roy’s whole demeanor had changed.

“Are you upset?” There was a hint of concern in Mustang’s voice, and it felt weird hearing it.

“What? No. Why would I be upset?”

“Because I just used alchemy and you…” he trailed off.

“No, no, I don’t care about that. I made the choice to give up my alchemy and I never have nor will I ever regret it. It’s just…” There was an awkward pause. For probably the first time in his life, Mustang was waiting for him to continue the conversation rather than hijacking it himself. “Do… Do you ever feel like you’re back at the Gate? Or, I guess I should say in front of Truth?”

“What, like in a dream?”

“No, no, like in real life. Getting kind of light-headed, short on breath, you know?”

Ed wished he had a camera because the look of puzzlement on Mustang’s face was priceless. He opened and closed his mouth several times before uttering out a slow drawn, “Pardon?”

Ah, so Mustang hadn’t been having the same problems as him. “Hm, so that’s a no then? You’ve really never stood up too fast and been in front of the Gate?”

“I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

And, just on cue, Ed started feeling himself begin to get lightheaded. “No, look, I’ll show you, I’m feeling light-headed right now.” Ed had rapidly stood up to demonstrate… something. The look of confusion on Mustang’s face had appeared to multiply as Ed had begun to try to prove a point he didn’t need to prove.

As quickly as he stood up, Ed dropped like a sack of rocks.


	2. synchrony

“Uh, Edward? Are you okay?”

No response.

Roy shakily stood up. As he went to approach him, Ed appeared to wake up with a sudden gasp of breath. He unsteadily climbed back to his feet and began laughing as if nothing had happened.

“Hey, Edward? What the hell was that?” Roy could not hide the panic building in his voice.

“Honestly? I don’t really know. I’ve never just… passed out like that before.” Edward had begun to rub the back of his head anxiously while keeping his eyes glued to the floor.

There was an uncomfortable silence. Roy stared at Edward, half expecting him to concoct an explanation and half expecting him to try to flee.

“Well… I have a train to catch! See ya later!” Ah. So he would be going with the second choice today.

Roy caught him by the collar as he tried to run past. What, he’s going to come in here, pass out, and then try to leave? Unbelievable.

“We both know your next train isn’t for a few days. Give me the address of the place you’re staying at, I’m going to send someone to check in on you for the next few days.”

“Oh come on, you’re not even my boss anymore! Cut me some slack.”

Roy was  _ absolutely  _ not going to cut him some slack. Edward just walks in, starts saying some cryptic nonsense about the Gate and passes out? Roy’s instincts were screaming at him to not even let Edward out of his sight. “If you’re staying in East City I am going to check up on you. Especially after that little stunt. Now get out. I have some calls to make.”

Thankfully neither of them wanted to continue the conversation any longer. Edward hastily left his office, and Roy could hear him beginning to talk to Hawkeye once again. Roy was tempted to listen in on their conversation to see if they were only on a first name basis just to piss him off, but he had better things to do.

Firstly, get in contact with someone else who had seen the Gate, because what the hell was that? Roy had no way of knowing if he was an outlier in this, so he elected to talk to someone else. The challenge was getting in contact with someone else. The only people he knows that have seen the Gate are Alphonse, who would be a pain to contact, and Izumi Curtis, who Roy wasn’t even sure if he  _ wanted  _ to contact.

Well, contacting Alphonse wouldn’t be too difficult. Yeah, sending messages out into the desert aren’t exactly… cheap, but what better way to waste the military’s funds, right? Roy had begun preparing a telegram, then decided to wait on it. He didn’t want to worry Alphonse over nothing, and it would be a huge waste of time for everyone if they figured this out after he sent the telegram.

Which left him with the call. Yeah, he was not excited for this.

Just as Roy was about to dial the number, the phone began ringing. Roy made a loud squeal of a noise and jolted out of his seat with surprise. After taking a moment to make sure that nobody outside the door had heard him, he put the phone to his ear.

“This is Mustang.”

“Oh, General! I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time. I just arrived in Ishval a few days ago and this is my first time I had access to a phone.” The sound of Alphonse’s cheery voice spilled from the phone.

“Actually, you caught me at a great time. Can I ask you some questions?”

\--

It had been a whole day, and Roy couldn’t stop thinking about the calls he had made. Apparently, what had happened to Ed was  _ not  _ normal, and neither Alphonse nor their alchemy teacher had any idea what he was talking about. Alphonse had mentioned coming back to East City to talk to him and see what was up, but Roy begrudgingly promised him that he would keep an eye on Edward and would let Alphonse know if anything else happened. It seemed to keep his worries at bay.

He hadn’t been planning on contacting Izumi Curtis. He only ended up calling her because his panic had grown tenfold after finding out the Alphonse didn’t know what was going on. In retrospect, he probably shouldn’t have called her. He wasn’t sure if this was actually a problem or not. There could have been many other explanations for Ed passing out like that, but him chalking it up to something to do with the Gate was making Roy worried. And the fact that he was pretty sure Ed wasn’t telling him exactly how long this had been going on.

Roy didn’t want to unnecessarily stress them. He knew that he got overly concerned with anything that has to do with the Gate, and it was safe to assume that anything involving Edward was bad news. There was a good chance he was overreacting and that it was nothing to worry about.

He couldn’t dissuade Izumi Curtis from being worried, though. Or rather, he didn’t want to disagree with her out of fear for his life. She may or may not be coming in to East City. She was vague with her response, and Roy felt she wasn’t in the mood to be questioned. There were some comments made about how Ed ‘didn’t even have the decency to call’ so Roy felt it best not to press the issue.

Roy had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t even realized the workday was ending soon. He and Hawkeye were going to visit Ed tonight to make sure everything was alright and maybe go out for food or something.

The trip to where Ed was saying was completely silent. It had begun to rain, and the cathartic sounds of the drops pounding the windshield were loud enough to deter a conversation. Hawkeye was unreadable as always, and Roy wasn’t in the mood to try to figure out what was on her mind.

The rain had only gotten heavier as they made their way out of the car and into the building. At least the staircase was inside rather than outside.

The layout of the building was easy enough to navigate, and it was only a few seconds before they managed to find the room Edward had told them he was in.

She knocked on the door once.

Twice.

No answer. Now Roy was starting to get worried. Just as he was going to begin knocking, the door opened up right in front of him.

“Jeez, give me a few seconds to get to the door, would ya?”

Roy felt himself relaxing a bit before noticing a bandage hidden beneath Ed’s bangs. “What happened to your head?”

Edward apparently was hoping that they wouldn’t notice the white bandage on his forehead, judging from the way he immediately tried to cover it. “It’s uh… its nothing-“

Ed was promptly cut off by Hawkeyes glare. Roy wasn’t sure if he should be glad or scared by the fact that one of his subordinates was much more intimidating than himself. Roy had no idea how she does it, but it seems like everyone respects and fears her much more than him. Edward was beginning to crack under the pressure of her gaze.

“I just got a little light headed and hit my head, okay? It wasn’t anything serious. Look, I’m fine!” Ed was gesturing at… all of him, as if that would make it better.

“Has this happened more than twice?” Hawkeye had taken over the interrogation, it seems.

“No, no, it was just now and yesterday, I swear! You guys are just overreacting,” he said with a quiver in his tone.

“If this happens again, we’re taking you to the hospital.” Hawkeye was not making a suggestion.

Obviously, Roy had told Hawkeye about the little stunt Edward had pulled yesterday. He didn’t go into detail, as explaining the gate to someone who doesn’t understand alchemy can be… difficult, to put it lightly. But she had understood the key points; that something related to alchemy made Edward pass out, and that this was definitely  _ not  _ supposed to happen.

The three of them had discussed dinner plans. Hawkeye had gone out early to get the car, so Edward and Roy had decided to wait at the top of the stairs to hide from the rain.

Now that it was just the two of them, Roy had decided that this would be a good time to continue his interrogation. “How long has this been going on for?” Ed had made a move to start talking before Roy immediately added on, “And I don’t mean just the passing out bit. How long have you been having… Gate related problems?”

Edward looked to be pondering something for a minute before giving his answer. He was probably deciding whether or not he should lie.

“Honestly? I’ve been getting lightheaded and stuff ever since I gave my Gate up, but I promise its not a problem! It could be happening because of some other stupid thing I did.”

Of course Edward would try to put it off, Roy thought as he shook his head in disapproval. He probably still thought it wasn’t anything to worry about, or at least he was trying to convince himself of that. But, it had been almost two years since the promised day. This clearly wasn’t going to go away on its own, and if anything, it seemed to be getting worse.

Roy was suddenly glad he had chosen to call both Alphonse and their alchemy teacher. If this had been going on for two years already, it wasn’t going to get better on its own.  _ Fuck,  _ was Roy really the first person he had talked to about this? He could understand why Ed wouldn’t have gone to their alchemy teacher, considering she could very well kill him, but not even Alphonse?

“Have you told anyone else about this?” Roy was trying to see if he would lie. He knew Edward had not told Alphonse, but Ed didn’t need to know that. Roy just wanted to see if he would actually admit it.

“Uh, no. You’re the first person I’ve told. At least about the stuff with the Gate.” Ed had mumbled the words as if he didn’t want Roy to hear them.

“You haven’t even asked Alphonse about it? Why?” And wasn’t that the question of the day? Why would Ed ask  _ Roy  _ about it, of all people? He knew they were on better terms now that Roy was no longer his boss, but he didn’t expect Ed to come to him first about something like this.

“Well, I – he would get worried, you know? I planned on telling him eventually, I just… Didn’t want him to freak out if it wasn’t something normal, which I’m assuming it isn’t.” Ed had a soft look on his face. Roy could tell he was being truthful, and frankly the explanation did make a lot of sense. Edward always tried his best to not worry Alphonse. “And especially since he got his body back and wanted to do his own thing. I just didn’t want him to worry over me.”

“But still, this isn’t something you should hide. It could be serious. Hawkeye wasn’t joking when she said she would take you to the hospital if you had any more incidents.” Roy didn’t need to clarify. They were both well aware that it wasn’t a joke. Even though she didn’t know about the gate, she was worried in her own way.

And with that they saw Hawkeyes car pull up to the doors.

Ed had begun walking down the stairs first, casually ignoring the conversation that just took place. At around the halfway point, he stopped suddenly. Roy couldn’t see his face, but the hand clutching the railing was shaking from the amount of pressure being put on it.

Ed grumbled out a small, “Oh no,” before crumpling like a ragdoll and tumbling down the remaining steps.

If Roy were being honest with himself, the next few minutes were a blur. Ed didn’t seem to hurt himself on the stairs, but Roy had no real way of knowing for sure. He knew he saw Ed hit his head on the way down, but by the time Roy had gotten down to him, he had already woken up and began shouting expletives at the staircase.

Hawkeye had been right in front of the staircase with the car, and began as soon as they got in the car. Edward had claimed that he was fine and that they really didn’t need to go to a hospital, but Roy could tell that he was a bit shaken up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again! hope youre enjoying chapter 2! please leave a comment or come say hi on my tumblr viredian if you want!


	3. hamartia

Ed was  _ pissed.  _ Not only were Mustang and Riza treating him like glass, they insisted on bringing him to the hospital. Yeah, he had a small fall down a flight of stairs, but he only hit his head a little and he was  _ fine,  _ alright?

They had completely freaked out. Ed had had another one of his ‘oopsies’ as he’s been calling them, to Mustang’s dismay. He was only unconscious for a minute or two and while yeah, that was longer than the last time, it still wasn’t worth worrying about. He may not have been falling unconscious before, but his moment of lightheadedness wasn’t anything new, and there was no reason for them to start getting worse now.

Well. Maybe they had been getting progressively worse over the last while. A few months ago he would only feel lightheaded once every few days, and now it seemed to be at least once a day. But it still wasn’t that much of a problem, right? Sure, Mustang didn’t really know what he was talking about with the gate, but he’s sure if he asked Al about it they could figure something out and maybe,  _ maybe _ if Al couldn’t help him he might ask Teacher.

Edward kept trying to tell himself it wasn’t a big deal, but  _ maybe  _ he had gotten a bit worried about it. Just a bit. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be feeling. On one hand, it had been going on for two years now and it hasn’t really affected him much, so it doesn’t seem like it will be a threat anytime soon.

On the other hand, if Mustang didn’t know what he was talking about, there’s a chance this could be exclusive to him. Ed was, after all, probably the only person ever to lose their Gate.

The people at the hospital had put him in a room and begun asking him a myriad of questions. Mustang and Riza initially went in with him, but Ed had kicked them out of the room because he was tired of that worried look they were giving him every time he answered a question.

And all these people kept trying to interrogate him to see what was happening. Ed found himself in a bind. It’s not like he can just go up to people and say  _ yeah actually I might be having problems now because I committed the ultimate taboo wait no don’t arrest me.  _ So now he’s stuck here hoping that they find nothing and just send him home without a fuss.

The doctor had been asking him some routine questions, which Ed really did try to answer as best as he could. Even though Riza wasn’t in the room with him, he was certain she would know whether or not he was being honest.

Ed must have zoned out or something because the next thing he noticed was a doctor snapping in front of his face. When did he get there?

The doctor must have been saying something to him, but Ed had no clue what it was. Apparently, this wasn’t a good thing, judging from the frown the doctor gave him before hurrying off. Yikes.

They even did a blood test to ‘rule some things out’ which was both ominous and good, he supposed. Another nurse came in and began asking him if he had hit his head on anything recently. It was starting to sound like they had an idea in mind of what was going on but didn’t want to tell him.

He was given instruction on how to book an appointment to discuss his blood test. After angrily complying, he agreed to come back in 2 days. He bitterly told them off under his breath before walking out of the room to find Riza and Mustang.

This would give Ed some time to kill. The train was supposed to be in early tomorrow morning, but there was no way he would be making it now. Riza would probably skin him on sight if she caught him trying to leave now.

Ed knew that they would be watching him. He heard the doctor pull Mustang and Riza aside and ask them to watch for  _ something,  _ but Ed couldn’t quite make out what it was. Ed knew he had no chance of getting Riza to crack, but he could always try to poke at Mustang until he explodes.

Well, whatever it was they were trying to look for, they wouldn’t find it. Ed  _ knew  _ that this had something to do with the gate. There was a small worry that maybe his gate related problems could be causing him… other problems, but Ed squashed that fear down quickly.

Mustang and Riza had been whispering something to each other before Ed approached. Oh man, he was hoping they were not discussing what he thought they were.

They both brought their attention to him as he approached. “We don’t think it would be a good idea for you to stay by yourself. Which one of us would you rather stay with? We both have a place for you to sleep.” Ed thought to argue for a moment, before realizing that it would be futile. No point in trying to convince Riza he would be fine by himself.

“Uh, do either of you have a coin?”

Mustang gave him a puzzled look before pulling one out of his pocket. “If you’re stealing more money from me – “

“Nope! Heads or tails?” Ed snatched the coin out of Roy’s hands.

“Uh. Heads?” Mustang spoke with bewilderment.

He flipped the coin. Heads. He flipped it again. Heads. Again. Heads. One more time.

Tails!

“Okay, I’ll stay with Hawkeye.”

Mustang had the audacity to look offended while Hawkeye had a faint smile on her face. “Great, we can go get your stuff now.”

Mustang trailed behind them all the way to the car, mumbling to himself.

“Do we really have to get my stuff now? I already paid for the night.”

“It would make both of us feel better if you stayed with one of us tonight. We can always put the charge on the General’s tab.”

“My what?”

\--

Getting his stuff had gone fine. Mustang was keeping a very close eye on him every time they went down the stairs at the front of the building, and although Ed found it annoying, he couldn’t exactly blame him. They were heading back to Hawkeye’s car to deliver the last of the stuff from Ed’s room.

Ed didn’t even know what had happened until he realized Mustang was snapping in his face. Both him and Hawkeye were staring at him with a concerned look in their eyes. Did he zone out again?

“That – that wasn’t me getting lightheaded or anything, alright? I just zoned out a bit – nothing to be worried about.” Saying this apparently had the opposite affect of what was intended. Riza managed a stoic expression well enough, but there was something bothering Mustang – whether it had to do with Ed’s little zone out or something else.

There was an awkward silence.

“So like, what’s the plan after this?” Ed asked loudly.

“What do you mean? You’re staying with one of us until we know what’s going on.” Roy had snapped back.

“Yeah, but what if we don’t figure it out? The hospital isn’t going to know what’s going on. It’s not like they do a comprehensive unit on the effects of alchemy in medical school.”

“Then you’ll stay here until this problem goes away or you get better. I don’t think you’ve realized that you’re a hazard to yourself at this point.”

Ed was starting to let their fear get to him. Maybe this wasn’t just an alchemy thing – Ed didn’t want to admit it, but he could have really hurt himself with his little stunt on the stairs earlier. It was a bit scary to think about, just how lucky he was that he hadn’t hurt himself yet.

After that, it had gone completely silent in the car. The ride to Hawkeye’s place isn’t that long, but it felt like it was taking forever with how the conversation was going.

Ed had tried to make small talk, as awkward as it was. Most of what was said was casual and short talk until Ed mentioned his plans for the night.

“You know, I was thinking maybe it’s time I called Al about this; he would probably know more about it than I do, anyways.” Mustang had somehow gotten more uncomfortable at the mention of Al. “Okay, what is going on? Why are you so tense all of a sudden?” Ed knew he shouldn’t be rude right now, but he wanted to know whatever it was that Mustang was hiding from him.

“I – I called Alphonse and your alchemy teacher shortly after you passed out in my office to see if they knew what was going on.”

And that was absolutely  _ not  _ what Ed had been expecting him to say. He sat in his seat for a minute trying to process what he had just heard. He thought it was going to be something about the gate, or something he was told at the hospital, not – not  _ that. _

“ _ Why  _ would you do that? Alphonse I kind of understand, but my  _ alchemy teacher _ ? Why do you even know how to contact her?”

“Well actually, Alphonse called me first to catch up. He had no idea what could have caused you to pass out either, so I decided to call the only other person we know who has seen the gate. Sorry, but I know you would just continue to push this off and ignore it if nobody did anything.” And – he was kind of right. Ed wanted to argue back but bit his tongue before he could say something stupid.

There was a pause before Ed decided to speak up. “Was he worried? He isn’t coming back, is he?” Ed knew he sounded childish for asking, but he couldn’t stand the thought of Al coming back so soon just for him.

“I told him I would keep him updated. And I will be telling him about your incident with the stairs.” Mustang looked over his shoulder to make eye contact with him, trying his best to give a stern glare. “If he decides to come to see you, I’m not going to dissuade him. Even if he doesn’t know exactly what’s going on with you, I still trust his knowledge on the gate more than my own.”

Before Edward could retort, Riza started to speak. This almost felt rehearsed on their part.

“You have to let Alphonse worry about you sometimes, Edward. If this does turn out to be something serious, you’lll regret not telling him in the long run.” She had kept her eyes glued to the road, but Ed felt as if she was peering into his soul regardless. He knew he should tell Al about all of this. He was planning on dodging the subject and just telling him about the basics, but it probably was time for him to start being honest.

He knew he should tell him. It was just hard, alright? But, then again, if Alphonse were to only hear things from Mustang…

“I’ll call him later tonight after I get my stuff unpacked. Don’t worry about updating him, I’ll be honest with what’s going on.” And Ed would be. He had decided. The longer he waits to tell Al, the more pissed he’ll be when he finally finds out.

Mustang and Riza shared a few glances back and forth. Ed knew they were having a silent conversation; him and Al had done it a thousand times.

Riza seemed to win their silent debate judging from the deflated look Mustang gave.

“Fine. I’ll trust you to be honest with him. And please do not tell him to not come if he decides he wants to. Dealing with you is a headache enough, but if I ever get an angry call from Alphonse about us lying to him, I think it will put me in an early grave.” Damn right. Al could be downright terrifying if you pissed him off.

They pulled up to Riza’s apartment. It had only taken one trip to get Ed’s stuff from the car to her door. He liked to pack light. Besides, it’s not like he had to go back to ‘borrow’ some towels like he did at the hotel.

They brought his stuff inside. The apartment was the exact same way Ed remembered it being two years ago. Riza had gone into a different room to get it ready or something.

Ed had started unpacking stuff from his suitcase before realizing that Mustang was just trailing behind him, watching.

“Are you just gonna stand here and stare at me? Make yourself useful and cook dinner or something.”

“Did you have all those towels when you first came to East City?”

“What are you, a cop?”

Riza decided that now was a good time to poke her head back into the room. “Sir, there really isn’t a reason for you to be here anymore.”

\--

Mustang had eventually conceded defeat and cooked them dinner. Edward did not want to ask how he knew where everything was in Hawkeye’s kitchen. One of them would kill him if he did, surely.

After dinner, Mustang took his leave. Stepping out the door, he tried to dramatically look behind him and mention how he expected to see them both at the office tomorrow. It might have looked cool if anyone else had done it, but Mustang just gives off this idiotic energy that he can’t get rid of.

Later that night Riza had shown Ed where he could crash for the night, and where the phone was. She left the room, and Ed was trusting that she wouldn’t eavesdrop on him as he picked up the receiver to dial a number.

\--

Well, talking to Al didn’t go… as terrible as it could have. After explaining that the sudden dizziness had been happening for quite a while, Al spent about ten whole minutes chewing him out. Which he kind of deserved, to be fair.

It was better than letting Mustang tattle on him behind his back again.

Actually, he should probably cut him some slack, just this one time. Al had already yelled at him for not saying anything until Mustang brought it up. The thought of Mustang telling Ed something important about Al sent a shiver up his spine.

Al had said he could be back in two days. There weren’t too many trains headed out to Ishval yet, so it was kind of lucky that there would be one so soon.

Which was fine. Hopefully Al would get here after Ed’s little check in at the hospital and everything would be fine.

The more Ed said it to himself, the less he believed it.

This was going to be fun, wasn’t it?

\--

The next day was pretty uneventful. Uneventful meaning that Ed didn’t trip and fall down any more staircases, not that he didn’t have any more ‘oopsies’. In the morning, him and Riza were having breakfast together. Now, Ed was trying to be careful, he really was. But apparently Truth wanted to make life as inconvenient as possible.

Edward had gone to get himself a glass of water, which was probably the only fragile thing he had held in the last twelve hours. Which, of course, was when the room decided to start spinning, taunting him as he lost his balance.

He found himself becoming very acquainted with the ground, as of late.

This one must have knocked him completely unconscious, judging from the white void surrounding him. His lack of a Gate made the whole place feel much more unwelcome than the last time he was here, not that he was ever supposed to be there in the first place. There was a deafening silence, broken by the sound of Truth’s laughter.

Ed… had to be dreaming, right?

“Well, human, do you want to stay here?” Truth had the same punchable grin on his face as always.

“Stay here? Why?” Okay, this was a dream, right? Ed must have hit his head on the way down when he passed out or something. There was no way he was actually here.

“Your soul is leaving your body. Humans weren’t meant to not have a gate, so your soul is being drawn back here. The only reason it has taken this long is because you’re still attached to your brother’s gate.” That… that’s a lot to unpack.

It was at that moment that Ed decided to look down at his hands. Either he had gotten very pale very fast, or he was looking a bit translucent. “So what, you’re telling me that every time I pass out it’s actually my soul leaving my body? What kind of bullshit is that?”

Truth responded with another sickening laugh. “Well, little human, that’s just the price of losing your gate. I guess it’s about time for your soul to go back now. I’ll be seeing you soon enough anyways.”

Truth gave a little wave before Ed felt himself fall unconscious again.

He woke up with a jolt.

The first thing he noticed was that the glass was on the ground, unshattered. Thank God. The next thing he noticed was Riza kneeling next to him, asking if he was okay.

From the way he was laying on the floor, his arms must have broken the fall. He picked himself off the cold tiles without saying anything, still slightly unaware of what was going on.

Apparently he had been out for two whole minutes this time. Was his dream really that short?

Ed couldn’t tell Riza about his weird dream. Not only would she not have any idea what he was talking about, she would probably tell Mustang about it immediately, and he didn’t need to know until Ed wanted him to know.

She was worried, but what was she going to do, take him to the hospital?

\--

He had gone over to the office with Riza for the day. Staying in East City for the extra day or two was throwing a wrench in his plans, and Ed decided that Mustang was going to have to deal with the results.

Nothing super out of the ordinary had happened. He bothered Havoc, hovered over Riza’s shoulder until she  _ politely  _ told him to do something else, and finally managed to stick some gum under Mustangs desk.

He noticed Riza pull Mustang aside at one point, probably to inform him of Ed’s little accident this morning.

Ed thought about telling Mustang about what happened with Truth when he passed out. It’s not that he didn’t want Mustang to know, he just wasn’t actually sure if it was a dream or not. Or, more like he hoped it was a dream. The thought of his soul detaching from his body was… unsettling.

No, it wasn’t until they returned to Riza’s place that… interesting things started to happen. Because outside of Riza’s apartment was one Izumi Curtis marching up to the door.

Ed shrank in his seat. No, no, he was not going to deal with this today. Al had scolded him enough last night as it was, he did not need to be murdered for being an idiot. If he tried hard enough, maybe he could crouch in a ball on the floor of the car? Would she see him then?

“Edward? What are you doing?”

“Just get out of the car without me. I’m already dead.”

He poked his head up just to see if Teacher had noticed their car. And today must be his lucky day, because at that exact moment he makes eye contact with her. Maybe he should look away and pretend he didn’t see her. Yeah, just a misunderstanding…

Riza must have decided she didn’t want to see this play out. She got out of the car and began walking to her apartment, leaving Ed to his demise. Her and Teacher waved to each other when they passed.

Next thing Ed knew, the door next to him was being ripped open.

“You idiot, did you really think you could hide? Get out of the car. We’re talking. Now.”

Ed managed a small “Yes ma’am,” before being ushered out of the car.

Riza had invited her inside for some tea. Teacher was exceedingly nice to Riza, but Ed was able to feel her animosity.

They had sat down, and Riza had excused herself to let them talk.

“So, Edward, is there something you would like to tell me?” She had an empty smile on her face and hell burning in her eyes.

“I’m sure you know about me passing out by now, right?” Ed let out a defeated sigh. There was no point in beating around the bush. “I already went to the hospital for it, and I’m going back tomorrow for a follow up. Is there anything you know about this?”

Izumi mellowed out immediately. As scary and straightforward as she was, she was also very caring. “No. I was hoping you would be able to explain it more to me, and then we could figure something out. How long has this been happening? Don’t even try to lie to me.”

\--

Thankfully, Teacher had decided not to kill Ed after all. She was angry, yes, but she seemed more upset and confused than anything. They had ended up deciding to wait until Al got here to continue discussing what could be happening.

Riza was dropping Ed off with Izumi for the day before going into work. Neither of them trusted him enough to be by himself, so he was going to go with Teacher to the hospital. God, he felt like a kid being passed around. He could go to the hospital by himself! There weren’t even any staircases on the way there.

When he was called to go talk to a doctor, he tried to tell Teacher to not come with him. He was an adult now, he could do this by himself. But she insisted. Apparently Riza had given her a talking to, because now she wasn’t letting him out of her sight either.

They went and talked to the doctor. There was nothing out of the ordinary with his blood test. He thought that should have been a good thing, but the doctor had a solemn look on his face.

“Have you hit your head on anything recently?” What did that have to do with anything? He was here for what was causing him to pass out, not the after effects, right?

“Uh, yeah, I guess? I hit my head pretty hard on the ground the other day.” Ed was losing track of where this was going.

“Have you felt like you’ve been zoning out at all? Like a sudden lapse in your consciousness?”

Izumi cut him off before he was able to say anything. “Yes, there’s been a few occasions where he just stares off into space and doesn’t process anything happening.” What? This must have been what they asked Riza and Mustang to lookout for the last time they were here. Ed didn’t even remember zoning out while he was around Teacher.

But that was the problem, wasn’t it?

“We don’t know exactly what is causing you to pass out suddenly. It could be orthostatic hypotension or just low blood pressure or something of the sort.” Well, better if they rule it out as something like that, Ed supposed. “But we think that you could have developed epilepsy from hitting your head.”

Wait. What? No, no, this was just because of the gate. The doctor wouldn’t know that, this is just the next best thing.

“Well, there isn’t really a good way to know for sure. If you notice yourself staring off into space more often, you can book an appointment for a diagnosis later. It could just be a one time thing, so we should wait a bit before officially diagnosing anything, anyways.”

Ed could live with that. Now that he knew he hadn’t messed up his head in a fall or anything, he could focus on trying to figure out what the hell is going on. He just had to wait for Al to get here.

Shortly after leaving the hospital, Teacher stopped him in his tracks. “I know that the doctors can’t take anything having to do with the Gate into consideration, but please don’t just brush off everything they say.”

Her worries were unfounded. There was nothing wrong with his blood test, and no other visible problems. What the doctor’s thought could be epilepsy was probably just a consequence of whatever was happening to him now. He brushed her aside and told her not to worry about it.

Besides, it was about time they headed to the train station. Al should be arriving soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> accidentally made this chapter twice as long as the last one, whoops!


	4. peripeteia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: blood, fainting, dissociation, non graphic injury

Al was excited to be back in East City. He was here to see his idiot brother who he had seen less than two weeks ago, but it had been a while since he actually came here and visited Mustang and the rest of them.

Going to Ishval had been an eye opening experience, but Al was just about ready to leave for Xerxes when Ed had called him explaining what had been happening. He really didn’t mind delaying his travels by a few days to make sure his brother was okay.

Somewhere along the way, he had encountered Dr. Marcoh. They had a good conversation, where Al learned that he had come to Ishval to try to make up for what he had done in the past. When Al explained that he would be leaving soon to come back to East City for a bit, Dr. Marcoh had asked if he could join him on his trip.

They had boarded the train together, but Marcoh quickly left when the train arrived at its destination. Marcoh had mentioned wanting to stop by the library in East City, but didn’t say why. Al thought about asking whether he was looking for remains of his research notes, but decided it wasn’t his place to ask.

As soon as Dr. Marcoh was out of hearing range, Al noticed both his brother and their Teacher. He momentarily felt a surge of panic go through him before realizing that brother was the only one who need to be reprimanded this time. If Teacher had decided to come to see Ed, it must have been serious.

Brother had been acting… weirdly relaxed about this whole thing. Ed was definitely not the type of person to admit when they were having a problem, but Al hadn’t expected him to brush it off after this long.

Both teacher and brother had met up with him. After quickly catching up, Al brought his attention back to the problem at hand. He immediately begun asking if anything had been happening as of late. Ed looked as if he wanted to derail the conversation, but one glance from their Teacher made him reconsider, apparently.

“All of my blood tests and stuff are fine, so it must be something to do with the Gate. Both of you still have no idea what I’m talking about, right?” Ed looked as if he was tired of going over this. Al would’ve felt bad, you know, if Ed hadn’t been hiding this for almost two years.

Al was beginning to notice people around them staring. “Maybe we should take this conversation somewhere else? A train station probably isn’t the best place.”

“What about your friend that got off the train with you? Do you need to wait for him?” Oh, right, Teacher had never met Dr. Marcoh.

Al explained that no, they weren’t travelling together and Dr. Marcoh had just wanted to visit the city for reasons he didn’t know. He was sure they would run into each other again, though.

Brother suddenly got a terrible grin on his face. “Oh, I know a place we can go,” he said with a snicker. Truly evil.

\--

“Fullmetal, why are you sitting on my porch?”

Al had turned around to see General Mustang approaching what he now figured was his house. Brother apparently forgot that most people were still at work during this time of day when he insisted that they could discuss alchemy things here.

“I would have broken in, but I decided that breaking and entering wasn’t really a good colour for me anymore.”

Okay, brother wasn’t allowed to do any more of the talking. “Hi General, how have you been? Sorry for showing up at your house out of nowhere, we didn’t know where else we could discuss all this.” Al gave him the smile that always made people do what he wanted.

Mustang smiled back, appearing to ignore Ed. He and teacher had exchanged a few pleasantries while he unlocked the door, showing them inside.

“Wow, you live like this?” Ed gaped. Everyone ignored him, knowing he was just trying to pick a fight. Honestly, General Mustang’s place was kind of nice. It wasn’t exactly clean, but it looked more like a lot of the areas were simply unused. The dust settled on most of the furniture wasn’t apparent at first, but after taking a good look around, it seemed like most of the stuff in here was covered in a layer. Then again, Al probably wouldn’t use a lot of furniture very often if he lived alone.

Al had honestly expected teacher to have tried to kill one of them by now. If not him or brother, at least General Mustang. But she was being polite and reassuring that no, they weren’t out on the porch for long waiting for him. Probably because she was worried about Brother.

Ed had made himself at home in the general’s house, putting his feet up on the coffee table in front of the couch. Al sat next to him, partially because he missed his brother and was worried for him, and partially because he didn’t want him to track any mud on the couch.

After they were all comfortable and the general had even served them tea, Al decided he would be the one to broach the reason they were here. “So, does anyone know anything about the Gate? Or what’s causing Brother to pass out like that?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never had anything like that happen and I saw the Gate a very long time ago, so it shouldn’t have anything to do with how long ago he saw it.” Teacher was crossing her arms and looking at the ground, clearly perplexed by the situation.

They bounced ideas for a bit. Now, if you were to ask anyone else, they would tell you that Ed was pretty good at keeping secrets and hiding what he thought. But, Al knew him better than that. He could tell that brother was hesitating every time someone brought up what could be causing this. When Al had mentioned the fact that Brother had given up his Gate, Ed’s hesitation told him he hit the bullseye.

“Brother, I know you’re hiding something. Just tell us.”

Ed froze. Then he started laughing a little bit and looking away, like he always does when he’s nervous.

“I – it was probably just a dream, but when I passed out the one time I felt as if I really was talking to Truth and that, uh, the reason this is happening is because I gave up my gate? And that humans aren’t supposed to not have a gate?” Ed was rambling. Honestly, Al didn’t even need to listen to anything past  _ Humans aren’t supposed to not have a gate _ because of course that was what’s causing this.

How could he have not figured this out sooner? It didn’t really matter whether Brother was just dreaming or not. The only difference between him and the rest of the people here was that he didn’t have a Gate anymore.

“So, will you be okay? What’s making you pass out?”

Everyone’s eyes were on Ed right now. He slowly drew in a breath before beginning to speak. “I think the Gate is what bound me to my soul. Like, physically. I was fine all this time because of my connection to Al’s Gate, but I think my soul might return there. Or something.”

“Dammit Ed, you’re supposed to tell us this stuff! Why did you wait so long to say anything?” Mustang had stood up and begun yelling. There was an emotion behind his words that Al couldn’t really place. It wasn’t pure anger, but it wasn’t exactly worry either. Something in between?

There was a few rage filled comments exchanged between Mustang and brother. Honestly, Al wasn’t paying them too much mind. He was too busy trying to think of a solution to this. If the Gate was what bound Ed’s soul to his body, could something else be used in its place? Al’s soul was attached to the suit of armor through alchemy, would something like that be possible but for Ed’s actual body?

Al decided to tune back into the conversation when Teacher yelled at both brother and Mustang to shut up. There it was. Everyone was quiet for a moment, unsure of what to do.

Brother and General Mustang were still standing up, staring at each other. Mustang had already begun sitting back down, but Ed remained standing.

“Brother? Are you okay?” Al had moved to stand up to check up on Ed, but as soon as he did, Ed dropped. Al only barely managed to catch him before he would have hit the ground.

Al moved to place his brother back on the couch, where he was. He knew he had been passing out randomly as of late, but actually seeing it happen made a whole new bout of panic awaken in Al’s chest. They needed to find a way to fix this.

Mustang had confirmed that as of late, Ed had been passing out for longer increments of time each time this happened. The last time it occurred, earlier today, he had been out for almost 3 whole minutes.

They decided to wait and see how long it would take. Not like they could do much else.

Every tick of the clock behind him was haunting. Al found himself trying to count the seconds in sync with the clock, but he gave up shortly after. The noise was grating to him and focusing on it only seemed to make the panic rising in him worse.

He decided to look elsewhere while the others counted the seconds.

\--

Seven minutes. It had taken Ed seven minutes to wake up. He had been breathing fine throughout the whole thing, but at some point Teacher had started checking his heart rate. It wasn’t slow enough for it to be a problem, but it definitely seemed more sluggish than usual.

Brother looked tired and dazed, but Al was just happy he was okay for now, no matter how temporarily that may be. Before he could ask if Ed was feeling better, he was cut off.

“I don’t know how many more times that will happen, but I don’t think it will take long until my soul leaves completely.”

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Al knew how he was feeling. It was the same way Al felt when his soul had been detaching from the suit of armour way back when. He was fine for almost 5 years before he suddenly started having problems with his soul attachment, and the problem quickly escalated from there.

Al wished Ed had told him about this sooner. Not that brother wasn’t smart, but Al had personal experience with having your soul detached, and if he only knew a bit earlier, he could’ve helped find a way to fix it.

Well. He still can help find a way to fix it. It felt like an epiphany, the thought Al had just had. There was a good chance he wouldn’t even get to try what he was thinking, but it was a better shot at fixing whatever this problem was than not doing anything.

Al hastily stood up and ran for the door. He absentmindedly told both Teacher and Mustang that he would be back soon hopefully, and to keep an eye on brother. He had an idea.

\--

Al ran to the library in East City as fast as he could. In retrospect, he really should have asked to borrow the General’s car, but it wouldn’t have saved that much time anyways with how close the library was.

He burst through the doors, scaring the receptionist as he stalked over to her. Al knew he had a friendly face, but when he was serious, he was more intimidating than most people.

“Has anyone named Doctor Marcoh come in here recently?” Al went on to list some more defining characteristics, hoping that he would be able to catch him in time.

The receptionist finally seemed to remember who he was talking about and let him know that she did see someone matching that description come in, and she was fairly certain they had not left yet.

Al began searching around as fast as he could. He almost missed the man he was looking for, as his face was buried in an old book. The carpet in the library made noticeably loud thumping noises as Al approached the man, not even trying to be silent.

“Oh, Alphonse, did you need something?” He looked a bit confused and surprised, probably not expecting anyone to talk to him right now.

“Yes, actually. Do you still have a Philosophers Stone?”

\--

Al slammed the door open, not even bothering to knock. He led Marcoh into the room where they were previously discussing.

Ed was lying splayed out on the floor. Mustang and teacher were kneeling next to him, trying to talk to him.

“Did he pass out again?”

“He did shortly after you left. He’s been in and out since.” Teacher demonstrated this by slapping brothers face on the cheek a few times.

Ed opened his eyes halfway and looked around the room. He saw the three faces around him, lifted his head up and said, “Oh, are we getting the band back together?” before immediately dropping his head and passing out again.

Al looked over his shoulder and motioned for Marcoh, who was still standing in the doorway, to come into the room. Marcoh shuffled his way over, looking uncomfortable with the situation. He gave an awkward smile to the General before kneeling around brother too.

“Okay. I know what I have to do. This is gonna be bad, but don’t worry. I think I know what I’m doing. General, could you go get me a kitchen knife? And maybe a first aid kit if you have one?” Al was detaching himself from the situation. Normally he would be panicking, but if he hesitated with what he had to do, it would only make things worse.

Mustang seemed to take a second before processing what was asked of him, before quietly agreeing and getting up. Teacher looked over to Al, and sternly asked him what he was doing.

“I’m doing the same thing brother did to keep my soul here. I’m going to draw a transmutation circle on his back to bind his soul to it.”

“But what about the price?”

Al motioned over to Marcoh. He seemed to understand what he was silently asking, and pulled out his philosophers stone. “You know I always keep it on me. I don’t trust leaving it anywhere else.”

Teacher seemed to hesitate. “Okay. I’ll trust you know what you’re doing.”

In that moment, Mustang reappeared with a small kitchen knife in one hand, and a first aid kit in the other. He seemed visibly concerned and worried. Al hoped that he had heard his explanation from wherever he was, because honestly he didn’t feel like explaining it again.

Marcoh began swaying on his feet, looking more uncomfortable than Al had ever seen the man look. “Sorry doctor, but would you mind leaving the room for this?”

His shoulders sagged with relief. The doctor quickly left the room, though Al was fairly certain he was staying just outside.

Al took the knife from his hand, shutting off his emotions. If he panicked while doing this, it would only hurt brother more. “I need you to flip him on his back and take his shirt off.”

Both Teacher and the General moved to follow his orders. Al could feel the panic coming off them, with the way their movements were jagged and uncoordinated.

_ Just breath. It’s going to be okay _ . Al was repeating it to himself like a broken record player stuck on repeat.

“Okay. I don’t know if he’ll wake up during this, but hold him down and keep him steady just in case.”

They each placed their hands on Ed’s shoulders, keeping him facedown on the carpet.

Al wanted to make it as small as he could, but if the lines weren’t smooth enough –

– then this would all be for naught.

He inhaled.

And put the knife to Ed’s back.

Al felt the tears drip down his face. He had to stop his emotions now. Reasonably, he knew that this would probably haunt him for the rest of his life. But all he could do now was try as much as he could to not process what he was doing.

The circle was complete. Al would’ve been impressed with himself where the situation not horrifying. He grabbed the stone. God, Ed was going to be  _ so  _ pissed when he realizes what they did to help him. But Ed would also feel guilty over it if Al were to give up something of his own. He would have to get over it.

Stone in hand, the circle carved into Ed’s back lit up red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	5. paradigm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw for blood mention

Edward was still unconscious. As they bandaged up his back, Roy couldn’t help but spiral with worry over all the possible things that could have gone awry. Yes, he trusted Alphonse, but watching him carve a transmutation circle into his brothers back was so  _ wrong  _ it was actually painful to watch.

Ed hadn’t even stirred throughout the whole ordeal, and Roy wasn’t sure if that was a blessing or a curse.

Truthfully, the circle that Alphonse drew was a piece of art. He had managed to stay calm the entire time, cutting a perfect circle into Edwards before beginning the specifics and more complex patterns.

Roy didn’t know if Al was aware that the circle that Ed now bore matched the one that had bound his own soul to a suit of armor for all those years. It was cruelly ironic.

They had called Dr. Marcoh back into the room to help with the gauze for the wounds. The cuts were deep enough that they should scar over, but light enough that they wouldn’t need stitching.

They had just finished the wrappings when Ed woke up from his sleep, hopefully for the last time.

The look on his face was one of confusion. Wordlessly, he glanced around the room, taking in all the people there, the gauze on his chest, and finally the stone laying discarded on the ground next to him.

The confused gaze he held hardened as realization dawned upon him. “ _ What  _ did you do?” He spat out the words as if they were poison.

Roy didn’t want Alphonse to take the heat for this. He had already been through enough, having to do that to his own brother. Roy didn’t want him to regret it. “We did what we had to with the information present. You weren’t waking up, and we didn’t know how much time we had left.” Roy was positioning himself between the two siblings. Obviously, he knew that Ed wouldn’t stay mad at Alphonse forever, but he didn’t want Alphonse to be blamed for something that had saved Ed’s life.

“We agreed to never use a stone for ourselves!” Thankfully, Ed fell for Roy’s bait and began directing his attention towards him rather than Alphonse.

“I don’t know too much about what was happening, but from what Alphonse said, you could’ve died. Would you have preferred it if Al had given up his arm to help you?”

Ed looked away, seeming to find more comfort in the floor. The expression on his face was changing back and forth from seething rage to being near tears.

Before he could start rampaging again, their alchemy teacher had quietly stepped forward and pulled him into a hug.

She mumbled something in his ear. Roy couldn’t quite hear what it was, but he supposed it was better if he didn’t know.

Ed’s expression finally softened up. He eased into her embrace, planting his face on her shoulder.

Their teacher had continued to whisper things to him. Probably words of comfort. She then motioned for Alphonse to join in.

Roy smiled to himself. The issue was far from over, and he will probably be hearing about it for the rest of his life, but for now Roy felt he could rest easy.

He left the room, leaving the three of them to their personal moment.

The blood that had seeped into the carpet would have to wait until later.

\--

It had already been 3 days since the… situation at Roy’s house. As honored as Roy was that they would come to him in a time of need, he really wished that their ‘time of need’ hadn’t involved getting blood all over his carpet.

Did he regret leaving Ed, Al and their alchemy teacher alone? No, not really. It seemed to be a private moment, and he knew it wasn’t his place to intrude. Does he wish they had their private moment somewhere else, so he could get the blood out of his carpet before it stained?  _ Yes. _

Their alchemy teacher was quick to leave after. It had only been a day when she decided to go home, with a threat hanging in the air if something else were to happen.

Now, maybe Roy was playing on thin ice. It really depended on what someone would define as something important.

Alphonse was forcing Edward to stay in East City for a few more days. Indefinitely, it seemed.

It’s not that he didn’t trust Ed on his own; they were fairly certain the problem with his Gate had been resolved. But the staring spells kept happening. They weren’t nearly as bad as him falling unconscious, but the first time it had happened was enough to throw Roy back into a panic.

He had almost called their alchemy teacher right there.

The only thing that had stopped him from doing so was Ed’s promise that he would see a doctor again if they kept happening.

It was kind of upsetting now that he thought about it. At the time, he had laughed at Ed for getting so scared at the thought of calling his alchemy teacher. But, after pondering it over, there’s a chance that Ed isn’t so much scared of his alchemy teacher as he is of something  _ else  _ being wrong.

As soon as they call her again, they’re admitting that something is still wrong, intentionally or not.

In the past three days, Ed had had more than enough staring spells. Roy didn’t know the exact number, but it was enough that Alphonse had begun writing it down to keep track.

Which brought them to Roy’s carpet. After deciding that he had had enough of the stupid stains mocking him, he called in Edward to help him clean them. Part of it was because his fingers were starting to go numb from scrubbing the stupid thing. Another part was to finally give Alphonse a break from watching his brother, whether he wanted one or not.

Now, Roy wasn’t completely insensitive. He knew the kid would probably be self conscious about the circle on his back for a while, and might react badly to see a reminder of the events that had led up to it. If Ed showed any discontent at seeing his own blood on the floor, they would do something else, end of story.

But thankfully Ed seemed to be fine with cleaning, although not happy about it. If discontent was all he felt, than Roy honestly couldn’t care, as long as the stains were out of his carpet.

The two of them were going back and forth with their bickering once again. It was lighthearted, and both of them were careful to dodge the elephant in the room.

Until Ed had another staring spell.

They didn’t seem to be getting any longer, which was a relief, as small as it was. The threat of Ed’s tendency to pass out seemed to increase exponentially in a short amount of time, so this problem was mundane in comparison.

However, they weren’t becoming shorter or less frequent either. He wasn’t falling over or anything, so they weren’t as dangerous as him passing out. But he would completely zone out for a while, and it could be pretty scary to watch it happen.

After wordlessly waiting for Ed to pick back up where he left off, Roy decided that that was enough.

“You need to go to the doctors for those staring spells. I know they seem harmless now, but they could become something more serious.” Roy felt the carefree attitude of the room die immediately. A cold, choking weight took its place instead.

Ed’s face had immediately soured before Roy even finished his sentence. He seemed to be going over every possible outcome of this conversation. The kid could be an idiot sometimes, but he was not stupid by any definition.

After going through almost every expression known to man, Ed finally spoke to him. “Fine. But I’m not going with Al. He’ll just worry over me and I don’t want him doing that.”

Ah, so that was the problem. Good thing there was an easy solution. “If you wanted me to go with you, you could’ve just asked.” Roy couldn’t help but chuckle when he finished speaking, as he knew the exact response he would get.

“You-! That’s not what I meant! I can go by myself, I’m an adult now!” Edward had become the human embodiment of a feral cat. Snapping at any sort of affection.

“As much as I’m inclined to agree with you, I still don’t trust you to not lie about what’s happening and I’m sure your brother doesn’t either. It would be easier for everyone if I just went with you.”

In response to this, Edward had let out a sigh so deep and aggressive that it could almost be a snarl. Wouldn’t this be interesting?

\--

Well, that visit did not go how he predicted. Roy was expecting something minor, like a concussion or something, but not this.

Epilepsy. Ed apparently had epilepsy, which can be caused sometimes from damaging your head.

There was medicine to treat it, but there were still some minor side effects and it wasn’t a complete solution.

Roy almost found himself wishing that Alphonse had gone with his brother instead. When the doctor had explained possible causes, Roy immediately thought of when Edward had hit his head falling down the flight of stairs earlier. Or, going even further back, when Ed had a bandage on his head from a previous fall that he would not elaborate on.

One look at Ed let Roy know that he was thinking the same thing.

Roy wasn’t an idiot. He knew that there were types of epilepsy that could cause staring seizures. He was just too preoccupied with what had already happened to Ed that he hadn’t put two and two together.

He definitely felt like an idiot. The doctors had suspected epilepsy from the beginning, even to the point of pulling Roy and Hawkeye aside to ask them to look for symptoms of it when they first took Ed to the hospital.

Hawkeye had taken the concerns seriously, but Roy had brushed them off. He had believed that the doctors were mistaken, and that whatever they thought were staring seizures were actually just the aftereffects of whatever was going on with Ed and his Gate, or lack of one.

He now wishes he had taken them more seriously.

It wasn’t the end of the world however, and it felt more so that Ed’s dread was oozing from his being, infecting Roy with it too.

This type of epilepsy was very manageable. The side effects of the medicine were minor at worst, mainly just causing things like drowsiness and the like. They weren’t a complete fix, but they did their job well enough.

There was always the chance that Ed could have a more severe seizure, though. The chance was low, but it was there.

When Ed was out of earshot, the doctor had recommended a service dog. It wasn’t necessary by any means, with how the medicine should cover almost all bases, but it was a good extra precaution to take, especially for someone with a life like Ed.

And honestly? Roy thought it was a great idea.

He had no idea how Edward would react to the notion of getting a service dog, however. He should probably let Alphonse handle this.

Roy was suddenly brought back to reality. He had been driving Edward back to his house, where Alphonse was supposed to meet them. Initially, Roy had thought Ed was just being extra grumpy about the whole situation. Yeah, having epilepsy wasn’t what they had expected, but it really could’ve been worse.

But now Roy realized why Ed had such a distraught expression on his face. It wasn’t the diagnoses, it was telling Alphonse that he was scared about.

Once again Roy found himself wishing that these important moments would stop happening inside his house.

\--

Telling Alphonse had honestly gone better than expected. His demeanor went from happy to malicious as soon as he found out they had gone to the hospital. Roy could almost feel the animosity coming off him in waves. After a few seconds though, Alphonse seemed to notice that while he was rightfully upset, Ed was very distraught.

Alphonse tried to calm himself down as best as he could, and the conversation was smooth from there. They had decided that they would continue to travel together, as Alphonse would worry about Ed if they didn’t. After all, it’s not like Ed has a good record of telling people when something is wrong.

Roy only suggested getting a service dog to Alphonse once Ed was out of earshot. He had agreed that Ed would probably be opposed to the idea, but he couldn’t be against something if he didn’t know what was happening.

The evil grin on the younger brother’s face would have you believe he was plotting something  _ actually  _ malicious and not, well, getting his brother a dog.

The two of them had stayed in East City for a bit longer than expected. Alphonse was in the process of trying to get a service dog quickly, while Edward was conveniently kept out of the loop of what was happening.

No one would tell Roy how they managed to get one so quickly, but he had a sneaking suspicion it had to do with the large amount of money Ed still had from when he was a state alchemist.

Which was how he was introduced to Mouse.

The dog.

Why was he not surprised.

The name was perfect for Edward though. It was cute enough that it sounded normal but also incorrect enough that Ed would get amusement out of it.

She was a cute little Yorkie, and Roy was certain that Alphonse was already in love with her.

Tragically, she would have to leave with the brothers.

Their plans to travel together were coming to fruition. Ed had insisted that he would be fine if he had Mouse with him, but Alphonse would not let up. If he was being honest, Roy would feel better if Alphonse had gone with him too.

Ed did make a compelling argument. The medicine had been working so far, save for a few side effects, and there had been no other complications.

But that doesn’t make up for the fact that Ed could have died back on Roy’s carpet; a fact that none of them would be forgetting anytime soon.

They had been worried about how the cuts would heal. If it didn’t scar the way they wanted it, then the circle could break and undo the transmutation.

Thankfully everything went to plan. Roy hadn’t actually seen the scars ever since the day they were inflicted, but Ed didn’t need to wear bandages on them anymore, so Roy was sure they were fine.

Roy found himself unable to stop thinking about those very scars as he bid goodbye to the brothers. Their stay in East City had been good, and thankfully ended without any more problems appearing, so it was time for them to finally move on and explore the world however they wished.

Roy couldn’t wait for the next time they visited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thats the end of my first multichap! thanks for reading, please leave a comment if you enjoyed or hit me up on my tumblr! its viredian

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this is my first multichap fic and should be posting weekly :) please leave a comment if you enjoyed it or wanna say anything else! or come say hi on my tumblr, virmellion . thanks for reading!


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